In the aftermath of any major disaster, one of the biggest concerns is how to communicate with your loved ones because any disaster big enough to cause widespread damage would likely knock out cellular networks as well.
During the June 22 Shake Drill, the MMDA introduced FireChat, a free app that let's you communicate with your contacts even if cellular networks are down. It's available on Android and iOS so pretty much anyone who owns a smartphone can use it.
FireChat works by something called a peer-to-peer mesh network. Any phone within 200 feet of each other can serve as a relay to pass on messages to the next phone within range. The messages are encrypted, so privacy is assured. For this to work, you need to activate both the Bluetooth and WiFi functions on your cellphone.
Of course, if there is no electricity to recharge your cellphone this can be an issue because Bluetooth and WiFi can drain battery charge pretty quickly. However, the peace of mind of letting your loved ones know that you're okay, and finding out that they're okay, can be worth the faster battery discharge.
It's estimated that about 5% of a city's population needs to have FireChat activated in order to have coverage over the whole city. So download FireChat now!
If you want to know more about FireChat, you can watch the following videos.
How FireChat works:
A short review of FireChat:
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